Coupeville Sports

Payton Aparicio was “on fire” Thursday night. (John Fisken photo)

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

So, despite playing some stellar volleyball Thursday night and coming agonizingly close, the Coupeville High School spikers sailed back home after absorbing a loss.

The defeat, coming in a tense 25-19, 25-23, 25-22 match at Chimacum, drops the Wolves to 2-8 on the season.

Worse, it puts them at 0-2 in 1A Olympic League play and stuck in the basement in a tie with Port Townsend.

Chimacum and Klahowya, the two teams that have beaten Coupeville so far — both in razor-thin results — sit atop the league at 2-0.

The Wolves still have time to make a statement in the playoff race, however.

The top three teams make the postseason, with all three of the Olympic League squads hosting their opening playoff match.

With both of their losses being exceptionally close, and with two of Coupeville’s four remaining matches being against Port Townsend, a school they whipped in an earlier “non-conference” match, prospects are still bright.

While her squad fell Thursday, Wolf coach Breanne Smedley came away pleased with a lot of what her young players accomplished.

“Our outsides and opposites did a great job tonight swinging and exploiting Chimacum’s defense,” she said. “It’s awesome to see the youth on our team stepping into roles and doing their jobs.

“It was a back and forth match the entire night, they battled for every point,” Smedley added. “The girls are hungry to play them at our house next week.”

Sophomore Payton Aparicio sparked the Wolves (“she was on fire!!!”) with a flawless 100% from the service stripe, including four aces.

She also collected a team-high seven kills and 10 digs.

Valen Trujillo went low for 15 digs, Sydney Autio (15) and Lauren Rose (12) combined for 27 assists, Kyla Briscoe hammered home six kills and Hope Lodell had a strong night with three aces and five kills.